Cash or instalments?

We do not give one answer to this question; we show the calculation. When the cash price, the instalment price and the interest your money would earn over the same time sit side by side, the difference turns into lira. You can put your own numbers into the formula and round example below.

This guide is general information, not investment advice. The decision is yours.

The logic of the calculation

An interest-free instalment plan is a loan that delays your payment. While you spread the payment over months instead of paying today, the money you keep can earn interest in the bank. What the instalments earn you is this interest on the unpaid part.

Calculation: gain = the amount still unpaid at the start of each month × the monthly net interest rate, added up month by month. The net rate is the rate paid into your account after withholding tax.

Where to find the interest rate

The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) publishes the average rate banks pay on new lira deposits every week. In the week of 9 October 2026, the average annual rate on new lira savings deposits with a term of up to 3 months was 43.40% (gross; 41.38% for terms of up to 6 months).

This rate is gross: the bank deducts withholding tax from the interest and the net amount is paid into your account. Net rate = gross rate × (1 − withholding tax rate). The net rate is below the gross rate. The withholding tax rate depends on the term and has changed several times. Your bank shows the net rate when you open a term deposit; use that rate in the calculation, and for the current withholding rate you can also check the Revenue Administration. For an approximate monthly rate, divide the annual net rate by 12.

Source: CBRT EVDS, series “TL savings deposits, flow”, week of 9 October 2026. This rate is an average; a given bank's offer may differ, and it is renewed every three months.

An example

The price and net interest rate below are a round example; they do not show a real product or a current net rate. Recalculate with your own net rate.

• The item costs 60,000 TL. 6 interest-free instalments of 10,000 TL a month; the first is paid a month from now.
• Example net interest: 30% a year, or about 2.5% a month. This is a round net rate below the gross rate above.
• If you keep the money in the bank and pay each instalment, the unpaid amount by month is 60,000, 50,000, 40,000, 30,000, 20,000 and 10,000 TL. That adds up to 210,000 TL-months; × 2.5% = 5,250 TL of interest.

Which instalment rules apply?

The number of instalments depends on how you pay, and the rules can change; check the figure at its own source before you buy.

• Credit card instalments: the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) sets the maximum number of instalments allowed for each product group. You can see the current table on the BDDK website or at your bank. These limits cover only instalments paid by credit card; a store's own instalment plan, a consumer loan and a promissory note (senet) are outside them.
• A store's own instalment plan and promissory notes: under the change published in the Official Gazette of 15 October 2026, the Ministry of Trade has the power to set instalment periods for these sales; its decisions are announced on the Ministry's website. The regulation no longer states a fixed period; if there is a limit, it is in the Ministry's decision.

Three cases

1. The cash and instalment prices are the same

In the example, paying by instalments means 5,250 TL of interest earned on the same item. If the interest rate falls or there are fewer instalments, this figure gets smaller.

2. There is a discount for paying cash

If the cash price is 56,000 TL, the discount is 4,000 TL. In the example, the interest earned on the instalment route (5,250 TL) is larger. If the discount is more than 5,250 TL, about 8.75% of the price, paying cash earns you more lira in the same example. The result depends on the interest rate; recalculate with your own rate.

Whether the discount is real is a separate question: Is the discount real?

3. Waiting

If you wait, the item's price may differ from today's. We cannot know the future price; this guide gives no forecast about it. You can see how much costs changed in the past, as measured figures, on this month's page.

What the calculation leaves out

• An instalment price above the cash price: the difference is the cost of borrowing. Add it to your calculation.
• The own rules of card or store instalments: how many instalments are allowed for which item depends on how you pay.
• If you will not keep the money in a deposit, or will put it somewhere else, the rate is different.